Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Baby to Brain — [ NEURO-BIOLOGY ] — Therapy clues from fetal cells that enter mom’s brain. — To be honest about it, this is just plain creepy. Creepy if you are male that is. Women probably think this is cool. Think of the sci-fi angles.

Mothers could literally always have their kids on their minds. Researchers find that in mice, cells from fetuses can migrate into a mother’s brain and apparently develop into nervous system cells.

The discovery comes from Gavin S. Dawe of the National University of Singapore and Zhi-Cheng Xiao of Singapore General Hospital, along with their colleagues from China and Japan. They were looking to design therapies for stroke or diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Scientists have known for years that fetal cells can enter a mother’s blood; in humans, they may remain there at least 27 years after birth. Like stem cells, they can become many other kinds of cells and in theory might help repair damaged organs.